CanInnovate

How would I describe this interview with Bryton Udy. His story is a riddle that I couldn’t wait to get the solution for. How does a Hockey Player, award-nominated country Music entertainer become a marketing & branding guru? I was absolutely fascinated and honestly, he did not disappoint. This episode is for anyone professional and business owners that need to pivot. Bryton is now taking his knowledge and experience and helping small businesses and thought leaders find clarity and confidence in their own branding and marketing with his brand coaching company, At Heart Branding Co. In this episode, you’ll discover all these hidden gems: 3 secret ingredients of brandingThe value of an emotional barometerThe #1 rule of brandingArt of perceptionAt Heart Clarity FrameworkHow branding is deeper than looksHow to Find Your Own Authentic WayHow individuals and companies can benefit from brandingHow #COVID is a pulse check for all companiesAnd so much more And get this, He even has a free video course - 3 Minute Marketing Magic and is even giving away a 1-hour free coaching call. And, he’s a fellow podcaster, At Heart Branding Podcast. Talk about value and giving back! He’s definitely all HEART. More about Bryton Upton: From the ice to the stage, and even the boardroom, Bryton Udy has found success in various endeavors in his life. First playing Jr. Hockey chasing a NCAA scholarship, to releasing a top 20 Single at Canadian Country Radio and being nominated for multiple Canadian Country Music Awards, Bryton is now taking his knowledge and experience and helping small businesses and thought leaders find clarity and confidence in their own branding and marketing with his brand coaching company, At Heart Branding Co. And.. he’s a fellow podcaster, At Heart Branding Podcast. Connect with Bryton: Website: atheart.co Personal Instagram: @brytonudy At Heart Instagram: @atheartco YouTube Channel: At Heart Co Apple Podcast: At Heart Branding Podcast Hope you enjoy this episode and are staying safe. P.S. He even told me I was a fantastic interviewer!! What?!?!? Let me know if you agree or disagree. I’d love to get your feedback.

Jennifer is the Founder and CEO of tellent and is on a mission to make work, work better for women. Her professional experience spans three continents across brand strategy and international market development and while her primary school teachers didn’t appreciate her questions challenging “why”, she embraces that curiosity and the perspective that comes with challenging the status quo to create impactful and lasting change. In this episode: Jennifer Hargreaves, Founder and CEO of tellent and is on a mission to make work, work better for women. Jennifer has such a sparkling personality & a global citizen of the world. We chat about how her curiosity led her to found Tellent. We chat about: FREEtellent About tellent: tellent is a job-board and networked platform that connects professional job-seekers and freelancers with entrepreneurs and inclusive businesses to find, fill and build flexible work opportunities. Connect with Jennifer: WeAreTellent.comLinkedInFacebookTwitterInstagram

This week, I sat down with Keith Ippel, the CEO & Co-founder of Spring. They are on a mission to help entrepreneurs change the world. First of all, Keith is the most down to earth person who is full of compassion, kindness, and is genuinely there to help small-medium businesses get through whichever phase they are in. From idea to growth. More importantly, they’ve created this FREE resiliency program to help small businesses get through the recession. There are so many hidden gems & nuggets: A little more about Keith: With over 20 years of experience as a leader in technology & impact businesses, Keith Ippel has accelerated the growth of both small and large companies and raised over $30M in angel investment and venture capital. Keith leads Spring, a global incubator and accelerator that empowers entrepreneurs and entrepreneur ecosystem organizations to build better businesses and change the world. To date, its global advisory work has supported entrepreneurs in over 40 cities across 5 continents while its impact programs have helped over 750 entrepreneurs launch 350+ businesses, and raise over $24M in early-stage capital. FREEBIE ALERTS: Hubspot Academy Spring Resilience Online Course & ProgramNetworking Biggest Mistakes Connect with Keith: spring.ishttps://www.linkedin.com/in/keithippel/@KeithIppel@Spring_is@SpringImpact

Driving change during a downturn I get a chance to sit down and chat with the infamous Rich Batchelor, who is a global Organizational Change Management guru and disruptor. We are always told to embrace change, but COVID-19 has definitely been more than most people have bargained for. Rich and I really get down to talk about how to navigate change, when it’s so disruptive. How did Covid-19 change you during the downturn? What actions did you take? Let me know in the comments below. Rich has been successfully delivering change for over 25 years. He is a founding member of the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) and founded the Toronto Change Days conference, a hands-on weekend of fun learning about change unlike any other change conference in North America! He has a masters in change management and is certified in Project Management, Process improvement, Facilitation, HR, Coaching, Counseling and Psychotherapy. He is also a Certified Lego® Serious Play® Facilitator & Workshop Designer, VUCA Canvas accredited, Certified in facilitating organizations through uncertainty and complexity and an accredited emotional culture deck “elephant rider”! In this episode: The importance of change with people, not TO peopleWe talk about #epicfailsDifference between education and trainingHe introduces me to his friend, CARLHow to engage people in this virtual worldHow to do stakeholder management virtuallyHow to have impact & influenceHow it’s okay to not be okayAnd so much more Plus, I share what I’m currently curious about and it’s not quite what anyone expects! Organizational change management is truly an essential business life skill that we should all master. It’ll help build your confidence and become your own secret sauce. Connect with Richard: CapillaryConsulting.comCapillaryLearning.comTwitter: @richbatchelorTwitter: @capillarytweetsLinkedIn I can’t wait to hear your feedback Please stay safe and healthy. Best Always, Sapna P.s. Have you checked out the latest FREEBIE? A downloadable Gratitude journal. That way we don’t forget all those amazing things that we are grateful for. I think we’ve discovered a lot.

Hey Innovators, COVID-19 is always on our mind, it’s what everyone is talking about. We look at the COVID-19 for the things that it took away from us, but what has COVID-19 provided us? Did COVID-19 actually give us a gift? Is this an opportunity? I sat down with Jessie-Lynn MacDonald. She helps clients break through self-imposed limits, fears, struggles, and challenges and awaken to the beautiful and infinite potential within. She is brilliant beyond belief! She helps parents, children, individuals, schools & companies, and consults globally. She’s a well sought out individual. The Adult ‘Time-Out’ is a Gift! We have a lively discussion about COVID-19 and the impact and she sees this time as an opportunity and a gift! We chat about: In fact, I admit that I may secretly want to be a gamer! We are all going through this change curve differently and it really allows us to become that diamond! I think you’re going to really enjoy this episode. Please stay safe Connect with Jessie Lynn: JessielynnMacdonald.com | Twitter | Facebook Best Always, Sapna P.s. Have you checked out the latest FREEBIE? A downloadable Gratitude journal. That way we don’t forget all those amazing things that we are grateful for. I think we’ve discovered a lot.

Paul Minors is a productivity blogger and virtual consultant. Paul grew his business “on the side” while working full-time and now consults to companies all around the world helping them with tools like Asana, Pipedrive and Zapier. Paul’s website now receives 100,000+ visits per month and his audience of 43,000+ email subscribers love hearing about how to be more productive in business and life. How to beat procrastination and be productive I got to chat with Paul Minors, who is based in New Zealand. He’s quite the inspiration for a variety of reasons. First, he started off his business as a ‘side-hustle’ and then quickly discovered that Productivity is his ‘How’. As we are all in this COVID-19 situation, we may find ourselves with a little more time and maybe it’s time to shift into trying a new adventure of starting a small business. So here are the topics that we covered on how to beat procrastination, the power of time blocking and so much more. How to beat ProcrastinationThe value of stop startingThe magic of time blockingHow tasks are good intentionsWe also somehow end up talking about baking,Lockdown Loaf I hope you’ll enjoy this episode and more importantly, staying safe. Quotes: “You can be more productive if you follow the right habits and if you are disciplined enough to follow the right routines and use your tools and technology correctly.” “By being disciplined, you’re following better routines, you’re being more productive, and if you’re getting more done, and being more efficient with your time, you’re actually creating more freedom in your life now because you have more free time. Discipline is like a prerequisite for freedom in your life.” "I'm a big fan of this productivity method called time blocking I don't know what it is actually called, but I call it time blocking or block scheduling you have probably come into different terms before but it is basically this practice of taking task and maybe you have a task list or a notebook with it to list of things that you need to do, or maybe it is just in your head whatever it is, you are taking the task that you need to do and you are actually putting them on into your calendar and blocking up time to do that task." Connect with Paul: PaulMinors.com | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn Resource Links: Productivity Blueprint Productivity video training Paul Minors Podcast

Hey Innovators, Are you finished baking and looking for other ideas to entertain yourself… well… I have the perfect guest. I get to chat with Julie Shum, who has been a friend for over two decades and she always provides me with the perfect boost of inspiration. I’m so #Grateful for having such a down to earth, inspirational friend. Discover how Julie’s injury led to finding a new hobby that she’s completely obsessed about.How to tap into our inner child to discover other avenues ‘ “I wonder…” The value of not overthinking and just going with the flowTapping into our creativity through resourcefulnessJulie provides ideas from gardening, handwriting, donating hair and so on… Julie has a wonderful outlook on life and always finds opportunities at every twist and turn… Get ready to get inspired! Connect with Julie: Instagram: @lovemelettering or @creativesassembly I think you’re going to really enjoy this episode. Please stay safe Best Always, Sapna P.S. Add the hashtag #gratefulmindset and tell us what you’re grateful for. P.P.S - FREEBIE ALERT - free downloadable Gratitude Journal pdf! Another great resource, that may tap into a new hobby or interest.

As we all embrace and adjust to the ‘New Normal’, the impact on humankind is going to be instrumental. The biggest thing that we have just been reminded us to stop and be really present. I was reading a Facebook post and it just summed it up completely. This person talked about how much has changed in three (3) weeks for him. He mentions in this post that 3 weeks ago he was unhappy with his job, overwhelmed with work, wanted to lose weight, canceling on friends to just stay at home to relax, irritated with traffic, talked to his mom once a week, irritated with elevator wait times. His point was that 3 weeks ago, he took everything for granted. Today, he is grateful for his job and how busy it is, how he misses human interaction, he calls his mom every day, and now is afraid to take the elevator. Isn’t this the truth? Three weeks ago all those things that we complained about are now the things that we are grateful for. We are all starting to really gain a different perspective and re-learning gratitude. Could COVID-19 actually kill Narcissism? Narcissism has been growing more and more over the past few years. The Wikipedia definition of Narcissism is “the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one’s idealized self-image and attributes. This includes self-flattery, perfectionism, and arrogance.” Have you ever fallen in love with a Narcissist? You lose yourself in order to feed their ego & make them happy. Narcissism has been a social-cultural problem for many years and was growing exponentially, as many people post pictures of their amazing life of perfection to create the illusion of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). The world has a common enemy, the COVID-19 virus. Not neighbors. We all have a shared vision and mission to save lives. Simon Sinek’s book, ‘Start With Why’.has really opened up our eyes to the power of having a shared purpose. Our worldwide shared purpose is ‘Stay at home and save lives’. We get to be heroes in our own stories. I know that I am so grateful for all the front line workers that are putting themselves at risk every day. This episode is dedicated to the health care workers, pharmacists, those in the food chain supply chain, waste removal services, and all the other front line workers. The stories that I’m reading every day, shows how communities and nations are coming together to solve this epidemic crisis together. There is no shortage of stories from inspirational to educational. neighbors singing for others' lives or recording a YouTube videoOne of my personal favorite YouTube videos is a family’s adaption of a Les Miserables song for CoronavirusteenagersAdopt a lonely isolated grandparent Toronto Distilleries are repurposing their operations to make hand sanitizers The stories just keep continuing. Check out these 35 stories that Bored Panda released and Solidarity is spreading as the COVID-19 crisis continues What perspective have I gained? For me personally, I’m more focused, more present and putting health first. I have newfound pride when I clean my house, daily. I am so grateful that there are groceries available, that I’m now spending more time on food prep and cooking more with purpose. I want to make sure that I stay healthy, so I am definitely eating cleaner. It is something that I never had enough time to focus on. I’m less wasteful and only purchase what I’m going to use for that week. I also grocery shop for ten people every week and deliver it to their porches. It provides me with a sense of purpose and protects others. As a society, we are going to be more: Do you know what the opposite of narcissism is – empathy, compassion for others, humble, modesty, treating others the way they want to be treated? There is no shortage of kindness out there. This is the time, where good will triumph over the bad. Where we all send prayers and love to people, strangers, acquaintances, and loved ones. So, yes. I do believe that COVID-19 will kill narcissism and reset...

Life is always a rollercoaster! Lately, I’ve been overwhelmed by all the key activities that are in my life. It doesn’t help that I have a heightened sense of urgency. I like to get things done. It’s my favorite mode. Come up with a strategy, a plan to execute and just go! But, how do we deal with the overwhelm? First, let’s define what Overwhelm is. I like to define it as ‘treading water’. You’re doing everything just to keep afloat. We’ve all experienced this feeling. It's just hard to see the forest from the trees. It’s just hard to see the plan/ where you’re going, the ultimate goal. The truth is the chaos that you’re feeling, is coming from inside. Yup, we have lots of things going on in our heads. We need to find a way to take a breath, prioritize and break them into smaller chunks of activities. It does sound way too easy. But I’m here to take the complexity out of it. Here are a few strategies: ELEPHANT: First, we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Acknowledge that you are overwhelmed. That’s always the first step.UNDERSTAND: Why do you feel overwhelmed? Too much to do? Too much to focus on immediately? Too many backs to back appointments/meetings? Not being able to say No? BREATHE: Take a big breathe and recognize that everything is fixable and solvable. We just need to figure out our options. BRAIN DUMP: Write down everything on a list. Just get it all down on paper. Just keep listing things. Whatever is on your mind, just get it out of your head and onto paper. One centralizes list. NOW: What are the biggest priorities? What are the immediate items that you need to right now? Not just now, but NOW NOW. When I was working in South Africa, they had three (3) definitions for Now. There was just now, which meant within the immediate future. Then, there was Now, which meant within the hour or so. Then, there was NOW NOW, which meant, drop everything and focus on it now. So, what do you need to do NOW NOW.ACTION: Are there items that you could outsource/automate/not do/eliminate/delegate? I’m a fan of the not-to-do list. My sister is great at this, she looks at her calendar for the week/month and highlights the days that she will need help with the kids. She gets proactive so that she can plan. The other day, I was struggling for time to do the grocery shopping/making a deadline and doing pickups. So, I got food delivered and decided to grocery shop online for delivery. Boom! #NailedIt! Next….POWER OF NO: There is a way to say no and it really provides you a way to take control. We often feel guilty for saying NO, but we shouldn’t. We are not saying NO forever, but saying NO for the immediate future. I wrote a blog aboutHOW TO SAY NO ELEGANTLY. It is often hard to say No, but people will thank you for being honest and managing expectations. We need to recognize that being ‘Superman’ or ‘Superwoman’ is not about taking on so much. It’s about leveraging the people & resources around you to drive towards a goal/a vision. Here are a few resources: BLOG: HOW TO SAY NO ELEGANTLY PODCAST EPISODE: I did a podcast episode (E110) with Mr.Productivity himself - E 110: Overcome roadblocks by becoming more productive every day with Mr. Productivity, Mark Stuczewski ARTICLES: Overwhelmed? These 6 strategies may help Thank you again for your time and I really hope these tips help you. It has definitely helped me more times than I can count! Feel free to share with your friends or others that are struggling. We all need help and friendly reminders, that we are not alone in feeling this way. Best Always, Sapna

Everyday is Happy Women’s Day! You know why? because we choose our mindsets each day. Every morning when I’m in the shower, I’m thinking about the day and how to conquer it. Not, thinking about how it’s going to be a struggle. I look at all the opportunities in front of me and decide where I want to spend more time or less time on. There is a difference between being assertive and aggressive in business. Women always get a bad rap and get called a not so positive name. The difference is how we utilize assertiveness. Being Assertive means speaking on facts, with the desired end goal in mind. Getting everyone aligned to where we want and need to go. Assertive women, know exactly what needs to be done and how to get there. Assertiveness is defined as self-assured confidence. Which is the complete opposite, of the Imposter Syndrome. It’s interesting to me, how the Imposter Syndrome has become a growing syndrome that is impacting so many individuals. Imposter Syndrome is basically self-doubt. We all have this and experience it. I did a podcast episode (E84)about how feeling like an imposter is a competitive advantage. It’s called I’m an Imposter and let me Roar! I’ve also created a Free Imposter Syndrome Cheat Sheet to overcome this self-doubt. Aggressive is where we get in trouble… anyone gets in trouble. It is fueled by emotions and somewhat seen as hostile. This is where individuals need to take 5-10 minutes to breathe, before responding. I wrote a blog all about Emotional Intelligence, as it can be quite the rollercoaster! Strong Women tend to share many similar traits! They’ve got a vision that has a plan behind it. Very clear on the direction, timelines, and milestones of where we are trying to achieve.We drive things to completion, that’s right. We don’t wait, we have defined what needs to be done and then we figure out who we need to work with to make magic happen. We are proactive.List makers - crazy right. Strong Women tend to have listed, to make sure that things don’t get dropped off the list. It helps us stay organized and accountable.Risk Mitigators - we plan for the worst-case scenario. Strong Women are very conservative in planning. We tend to under commit and overdeliver.Mr.Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary - he has said on numerous occasions that he loves investing in women start-ups because he always recoups his investments.Women tend to be very ultra-conservative with their sales forecasts and they usually beat it. I’ve attached the link to the article.Shark Tank Kevin O'Leary: Women make me the most moneyTime Management, strong women really know how to manage their time and make the most of every moment. There is that timeless saying “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”Listen- another key differentiator is that women tend to ask for proactive feedback from those in their inner circle and strangers. They know how valuable it is to get different viewpoints. This helps us mitigate risk (point #4). We listen to understand.Comparisons - we don’t compare ourselves to others, we LEARN from others that we admire. We look to see what traits/best practices that we can adopt.Learn- we look at every failure point as learning or an opportunity. We are also always looking for opportunities to build new skills, learn a new viewpoint and educate ourselves. This only adds to our confidence in our vision and plan (point #1). In fact, I have another little freebie gift for you.Reflection Action Review Cheat Sheet Be ASSERTIVE, be strong, be bold, be courageous and be unapologetically curious! You’ve got this!

Armel Beaudry Kembe Tchemeube is the CEO and Founder of Trebble FM. Before running Trebble, he worked for 8 years as a software engineer for a startup in the telecom industry that got acquired by Nokia. Armel owns a software engineering degree from the University of Ottawa. Episode overview: Are you a podcast junkie but wanted to get more content in a short amount of time? If you are, then this episode is for you. This week, I get to chat with Armel who is the CEO and Founder of Trebble.fm, a platform that releases shortcast - consumable 1 - 3 minutes podcast episodes. In this episode, we covered why people are becoming interested in consuming short-casts compared to longer podcast episodes. We also talked about how Trebble started, the difference between Twitter, LinkedIn posts and Trebble on podcasts and so much more. About Trebble.FM Trebble.fm is an online music-sharing platform that allows music influencers and music enthusiasts to curate your own interactive music radio and share it with music lovers around the world. Those radios are called 'Trebbles', can be easily embedded in a website. Trebble owners can add their personal touch to the music they share and speak to their listeners through ‘Capsules’. These are brief audio messages up to 90 seconds that they can record and play to listeners. They can attach additional information to those capsules like text, pictures, videos, allowing to fully express themselves and deliver a unique enriched listening experience. Connect with Mark: Website: Trebble.fm Twitter: @armelbeaudry and @trebblefm LinkedIn: Armel Beaudry Instagram: @trebble.fm Books Mentioned: Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups by Jason Calacanis

Mark ‘Ski’ Struczewski (“Mister Productivity”) helps entrepreneurs & executives get the right stuff done in a distracted world. In addition to being a productivity expert, Mark is a speaker, host of The Mark Struczewski Podcast and an online trainer. His strategies have guided CEO’s/Executive Directors, business owners, business corporate specialists and entrepreneurs to get back control of their time. Episode overview: This episode is for all those that are looking for productivity tips/hacks and secrets. I chat with Mark Stuczewski, MISTER PRODUCTIVITY – he’s obsessed to help the world become a more productive place – one person at a time. We chat about: And, I got challenged to take the 7-day productivity challenge. GAME ON! Hopefully, some of you will do it with me. Connect with Mark: Website: MisterProductivity.com Podcast: The Mark Struczewski Podcast The 7 Day Productivity Challenge Social media: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Laurence is the Founder and CEO of nanopay Corporation, where he drives the vision to offer the infrastructure to enable what’s more commonly known as Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Prior to founding nanopay, Laurence came from the telecom industry where he was Vice President of Wireless at Shaw Communications, prior to his role as Chief Operating Officer of Bell Mobility. Active in the payments community, he is the Chairman of the Paytechs of Canada and a member of the Payments Canada Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Episode overview: This week, I get to chat with Laurence about how we have an ambitious goal to lead the world’s transition to digital cash. What isn't commonly understood about payments, is while money might appear to move quickly or instantly (ie. in the case of e-Transfer), the real money doesn't move until the next day when the banks settle the payment overnight. This creates settlement risk for the banks involved in the transaction. This risk grows exponentially when the transaction is cross-border, introducing currency and exchange risk. Our innovative technology securely moves value from one user to another in real time – with instant settlement – and is ideally suited to transform the global payments infrastructure. That being said, the road to digitizing cash isn't necessarily a straight line. Today, we offer a self-service payment platform for small businesses (you can sign up at Ablii.com), a business to business payment product, and a liquidity and cash management solution for banks. About nanopay: nanopay is a Fintech company based in Toronto that empower banks and businesses to scale with innovative payment and liquidity software. nanopay offers two products: Connect, a business payment product which easily integrates with your ERP software and enables both domestic and cross-border payments, and Liquid, a real-time intra-company cash and liquidity product, which enables self-service virtual account management. nanopay's products are built on a payment engine, nanorail, that securely tokenizes money to move value from one user to another in real-time. nanopay is venture funded with strategic investments from international partners including the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. Connect with Laurence: Website: Nanopay.net Facebook: Nanopay Corporation Twitter: @nano_pay and @laurencecooke LinkedIn: nanopay Corporation and Laurence Cooke

Hey Innovators, We keep hearing the same words over and over again - innovation, innovator, agile thinker, lean startup, design thinking expanding our horizons. Ugh! What on earth does it mean? Let’s go back to reset and define Innovation. Innovation simply means continuous improvement, a way to produce new value. Very different than inventive, where it’s completely new. This is about innovation, taking something existing and refreshing it to provide new elements. This is where we get to be unapologetically curious and look at things with a new set of eyes. How do you train people to think outside the box? It’s such a mindset shift. When we grow up, we are expected to do certain things (i.e. get married, have kids, get an education, save for the future). What about training people to say that it’s okay to go off course? The best way to really develop thought leaders is to embrace the notion of curiosity. Allow your teams to develop points of views, challenge the norm and provide them with a valued voice. It’s interesting to me, how the Impostor Syndrome has become a growing syndrome that is impacting so many individuals. Impostor Syndrome is basically self-doubt. We all have this and experience it. I did a podcast episode (E84) & blog about how feeling like an impostor is a competitive advantage. It’s called I’m an Imposter and let me Roar! I’ve also created a Free Imposter Syndrome Cheat Sheet to overcome this self-doubt. It’s quite the paradox - be adventurous and overcome impostor syndrome, and follow the organizational rules & expectations. Organizations and Individuals need to start to create time for innovation and creativity. We need to get from reactive mode to a proactive mode. The challenge is that we are not given enough time to think, only time to react. Here are a few tips to slowly start to shift a little bit of your thinking. The innovator mindset is to Embrace Curiosity and become a Learn It All - explore different dimensions/avenues. What tools do you have at your disposal? List them out and also think about the non-traditional tools. Books/podcasts/free webinars/ articles/ talking to people across different industries. You know, I had a client that put me on retainer, just to brainstorm with. She’d have a few ideas and wanted to bounce it off all the wall and see what other elements could give it legs. Don’t dismiss the idea of talking to others and listening to understand where they are coming from. It might provide the perfect ‘AHA’ moment.Encourage Points of View. A lot of individuals have thoughts but are afraid to provide their point of view (PoV), because it won’t be inline with the ‘status quo’. Encourage and reward people for having ½ baked points of views. They will gain experience and courage to develop full points of view. No point of view is perfect. Think about all those folks that put out 2020 trends, they are just an opinion, a point of view. Failure - companies and individuals need to define their tolerance of risk. How far can you go in terms of failure? Encourage people around you to really test early, with minimal risk. Allow people to help develop the idea with you. You can start to test early and re-jig things based on feedback. It’s a perfect way to do a temperature check (just putting a toe in the water, to see what the temperature is). When developing solutions/services/concepts offer three (3) options. Give something for your leaders to react to. Present a conservative approach, a crazy out of this world approach and a hybrid of the two (2) approach. One of these crazy ideas Management Consultants have been using these approaches for years. Some of these concepts have been re-marketed under the umbrella of Design Thinking. These are classics that have worked for centuries! They just change the names to make them a little more ‘glamorous’. So, I challenge you. What are you interested to learn more about (Learn it All), what are you curious about? As promised, here is...

Dave McKeown helps individuals, teams, and organizations achieve excellence by doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well. He is the CEO of Outfield Leadership and author of The Self-Evolved Leader – Elevate Your Focus and Develop Your People in a World That Refuses to Slow Down. If that’s not enough, Dave is also the host of the podcast Lead Like You Give a Damn and writes a weekly online leadership column for Inc. In this episode: Author Dave McKewon really made me pause, think and then dance. His book – the Self-Evolved Leader is a must read. It's for new leaders AND seasoned leaders – it’s a perfect read and reminder. You’ll learn how to TACTICALLY move from firefighting mode to empowerment Honestly, this was a book that I’m going to read every year, to remind me what type of leader I want to be. About Outfield Leadership: Outfield Leadership helps leaders deliver excellence by doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. Our flagship program, The Excellence Equation™ is an immersive, interactive and practical workshop that will help busy managers and leaders rise above the day-to-day urgency to focus on the long term direction of their team and development of their people. Best advice: Building a culture of accountability is the holy grail in the leadership world. If we can get our people to go above and beyond their job description to help move the business forward then we'll see results like we've never seen before. Our customers will be happy, our people will be happy and your job as a leader will be much easier. The problem is that you can't teach your people how to hold themselves accountable. You can only provide the environment in which they want to do it. Connect with Dave: OutfieldLeadership.com | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Podcast | Book mentioned: The Self-Evloved Leader: Elevate your focus and develop your people in a world that refuses to slow down

Happy New Year! 2020… Crazy, how time flies by. The holiday season just flew by, one minute I was preparing for it, next it was over. I do love the holiday season. Stay tuned for the end of the podcast episode, because I have a little gift for you. It should help you orient yourself for 2020. There is something magical about the holiday season. I always end up crying in commercials/ movies, you name it, my heart literally skips a beat. I was thinking about the holidays and why is it the time of year that get people choked up. The spirit of generosity, kindness, love, family, compassion, triumph and magic - and then it dawned on me the magic word “INNOCENCE”. Seeing things through children’s eyes. It brings out the inner giant in everyone of us. The age of Innocence where good always beats the bad. Santa is real. Elf on the shelf are really Santa’s helpers, the joys of wishes and the idea that wishes could come true. With a simple letter to the North Pole. Human Connection, it truly is something gives us hope. Belief… That’s it… The holiday season reminds us to believe in all the things that we normally forget. To make time for those that we love (let’s be honest, we are all so busy these days & we hope everyone understands), to help the less fortunate. How is it that we are more giving during this time of the year? Does anyone remember Charles Dickens timeless classic, A Christmas Carol? I found this incredible article where Time describes Charles Dickens as the “Inventor of Christmas”. The story is from 1843. Can you believe that? The story is 176 years old. I’ll be honest, I was always a fan of Bill Murray’s Scrooged. It cracked me up and still makes me giggle. What I loved most about these stories, is how he visits the Christmas Past, Christmas Future and then goes back to the Present to change things! There is always time for reflection, in order to move forward. So, definitely take a moment to reflect, before you start planning out your goals. I’ve enclosed a gift for you, so that you can also take a moment to reflect back into 2019. So, in keeping with the holiday spirit, a look back to my 2019. I’m pretty excited. 2019 has been another incredible year, that I’m extremely proud of and have learned a lot. I launched my 1st book -Connect the Dots - how to turn strangers into meaningful relationships.I nearly fell out of my chair, when it hit the Amazon Bestseller List! I’m still stoked! I’m already planning my next book. There were so many learnings from this entire experience. Getting the book formatted for ePub version has different formats based on online reader - Kindle/Kobo/tablet etc… I tried to use Fiverr to get the book interior designed, which just became a nightmare. There was extra spaces and new dashes everywhere. Every time, one person would fix the mistakes that I found, 5 more new errors would just show up. Then I finally just did the interior formatting myself, took over two full days but it was just easier than outsourcing. Lesson learned, If I’m going to outsource any activities, it might be better for me to send to 4-5 in parallel. Hedge my bets, instead of sending to 1 person & then it being a disaster and then wasting more time to find someone else. I think this task, took nearly 6-8 weeks longer for me to complete things and I was just getting more and more frustrated each time! Ugh… So, outsource to 4 or 5 people at the same time or just do it myself. As per my goals, I also launched and held a few different webinars. I did a sales webinar onhow to optimize your sales proposals.I still see so many poorly written sales proposals. It really astonishes me, that people don’t see that this is the first touch point that that a client receives from you. Need to make sure it provides an ideal experience. I’ll make sure the link is available. Remember, that this is the first official deliverable that your client is to get from you. We need to think, what is the experience that we are delivering...

Frederic Lalonde is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hopper, the smart way to book travel on your phone. Combining massive amounts of data and advanced machine learning algorithms, Hopper predicts and analyzes future airfare and accommodation prices to save users money and enable them to travel more often. Hopper has ranked as the #1 travel app in over 55 countries and has ranked as one of the top 10 travel apps in over 120 countries. It has received accolades such as Fast Company’s Most Innovative Company in Travel 2018, the Google Play Award for Standout Startup of 2016, and Apple’s App Store Best of 2015. Episode Overview: This episode for anyone that likes to travel for either work or pleasure. I get to sit down and chat with Frederic Lalonde is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hopper and WOW!!! He blows my mind! Hopper predicts prices with 95% accuracy up to 1 year in advance. Such an amazing overview of the BOOMING travel industry and the stats & insights he shares, WOW! Did I say WOW already? In this episode we chat: How we don’t need to wait for those so called Airline SEAT Sales - Hopper does this for us How Hopper becomes the eyes behind our head when it comes to flights & hotelsTravel Industry is a $1.4 TRILLION dollar industry - that’s 4% of Global GDP, where the ride sharing industry (i.e. Uber/Lyft) is only $40 BillionHow they design with customer in mind.. In fact they only send true VALUE added push notificationsTips for how to get the best deals & how others are saving $1000’s of dollarsHopper utilizes a Jeff Bezos model/philosophyHopper is doubling in size every 6 months - lots of cool jobs which we will be including on our newsletter! And so much more! You’re going to love the energy in this episode! About Hopper: Hopper is made up of hundreds of smart, creative, and inspired humans working to fundamentally change how the world books travel. Hopper is the smart way to book travel on your phone. Combining massive amounts of data and advanced machine learning algorithms, Hopper predicts and analyzes airfare and accommodation to save users money and enable them to travel more often. Since its launch in 2015, Hopper has become one of the fastest growing travel apps ever with over 30 million installs to date. It is now the most downloaded travel booking app in North America and travelers have booked hundreds of millions of dollars in flights and hotels around the world using Hopper. The app has received accolades such as Fast Company’s Most Innovative Company in Travel 2018, the Google Play Award for Standout Startup of 2016, and Apple’s App Store Best of 2015. Connect with Frederic: Hopper.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter: @fredlalonde @Hopper | LinkedIn: Frederic Lalonde and Hopper

This is probably the most overlooked area. We tend to think about interviews in terms of getting a job. How about gathering information that really provides great insights. I used informational interviews everywhere, not just in podcast recordings. I use this approach everywhere. I use it to build new relationships, to ask for advice & guidance, build networks and it truly helps one see different dimensions and aspects about a particular topic. It’s an approach that Management consultants have perfected. How many times have you heard “We hired consultants and they just validated everything that we knew.” The difference is that the management consultants go in to chat with people with the intent of gaining information & valuable insights to a particular area and they compare it with other companies/individuals that have faced similar situations/obstacles and/or challenges. Management consultants often refer to this as discovery questions. There are no shortage of reasons to use this approach. Here are a few typical use cases: When you start a new department or company, you want to meet some of the key players (also known as stakeholders) to understand the current challenges in the environment. It provides us insights of what these individuals expect of us. Another ‘AHA’ moment When you have a new business idea or potential concept, many of the innovators on the CanInnovate podcast told us that one of the greatest sources of information. They were able to test whether their idea was a problem or opportunity that others would pay for. Providing insights into their potential go to market, their target market, their key messaging and so on. It provides them with such valuable feedback that allows them to fine tune their business idea and potentially gain a few early adopters.When you’re looking into jobs and want to know about company culture. What a great tool to use to dive in to understand more about the company. People really enjoy talking about the pros and cons of their company, as its an extension of their values.Inspiration & Curiosity. You meet someone that is brilliant and would like to know more about them. They have gotten your attention and you’re curious to know more about them and their journey. Maybe it’s just because you are looking for a little bit of ‘juice’ for inspiration. All of these different uses, give you an additional benefit. You will get collaboration and actually develop relationships. People that you’ve engaged, will want to be part of your journey. They are a little bit invested in your success. In my book, Connect The Dots: Turn Strangers into Meaningful Network Relationships, I talk about the study that confirms a positive link between asking for a small favor. It’s called the Ben Franklin effect! The reason why I wanted to talk about the informational interview, was because this is also part of the overall design thinking principles. Asking “What If’, experimenting and testing early, hearing and understanding (Human Empathy) gathering feedback early in the process, focusing on the user experience mindset and most of all, collaboration. Information Interviews really enables you to humanize the problem/situation and possibly identify additional opportunities by TALKING! There is no shortage of benefits of using information interviews. But, you know me - I like to get tactical. Plan:What do you want to learn about or discover? What is the context the purpose - put together 3-4 questions. Don’t forget that you may need to break down questions into smaller questions to re-frame questions. Think like a journalist. You’re just getting information and looking for little clues. Don’t forget to prepare a little mini-intro about you & what is the objective for the meeting. Engage: Who are potentially some folks that could give you some of these answers. Who in your network should you engage.FREEBIE ALERT!Connect the Dots Companion Workbook. To help put your networking and objectives into...

Founder and President of ​NKPR​, Natasha Koifman has built one of North America’s top PR and marketing companies. Natasha’s strengths as a marketer, communicator and relationship builder have earned her an award-winning reputation for successfully growing North American and global brands across many sectors. Recognized as one of Canada's most powerful and innovative women, Natasha has been honored with awards from the Women's Executive Network (WXN) and BizBash, recently completed a TEDx Talk and had been profiled in top-tier publications that include FORBES, The Globe and Mail, and Marie Claire. In this episode: About NKPR: NKPR is a 30-person agency with office in Toronto and New York and we're always looking for talented people who share our passion for great work. As part of the NKPR team you will work alongside the brightest in the field. With the support of a strong team, NKPR is a great place to keep learning, stay ahead of the curve and advance your career. They offer ongoing training, employee appreciation events, comprehensive dental and health coverage, endless snacks and DJ Fridays. Everyone is encouraged to support each other and to give back through the NKPR 26 Acts of Kindness program. Connect with Natasha: NKPR.net | Facebook | Twitter | NKPR on LinkedIn | Instagram

I’ll be honest, I’ve always been a Brandon Walsh girl over Dylan McKay! I have to say, I just watched Netflix’s Riverdale episode, and how they honour Fred Andrew (who was played by Luke Perry). I have to say… WOW! They really nailed it! How they handled Luke Perry’s death, was absolutely beautiful. The writers truly honoured Luke Perry and the audience that grew up with him. We got to truly mourn his death (here is a little photo tribute). My sister and I were bawling throughout the entire episode. These writers were definitely thinking with their hearts and that level of empathy was so evident. We actually felt like we attended his funeral and got to say goodbye to him. They invoked so many memories and really helped us along the journey. There were a few hidden surprises, that just took our breath away. This got me thinking about how this is a great example of design thinking. First of all, we all hear the words design thinking but it’s hard to envision and understand. Design Thinking is Human- Centered design, versus system centered. The Riverdale show writers, really understood their target market. Having all the Riverdale parents being teen idol stars from the 80’s, we know from Luke Perry, Molly Ringwald, Mark Consuelos, Skeet Ulrich, Robin Givens & Mädchen Amick. They really kept the audience in mind when writing this episode. They really understand & understood their target audience and the different audience personas. Which means that every piece of content speaks to the audience personas. Which is exactly why this Riverdale episode and the funeral of Fred Andrews (aka Luke Perry) was such a big deal. How they handled this so tastefully, will encourage even more loyalty. Design Thinking provides a hybrid approach to problem solving. It does not just look at data analytics and science, it also uses emotions and intuition. Design Thinking really provides a hands-on-approach to problem solving. Not just researching on a computer or google to problem solve. It wants you to get out their on the field to talk to people to ‘hear’ & ‘understand’. Less talk and more action. It’s an iterative process, where we seek to understand the user, challenge ‘same-old’ assumptions , and redefine problems to identify additional opportunities. Design Thinking is a total shift to the mindset. There are lots of times that we get caught up in meetings and not actually talking to people that would be impacted. We make decisions without doing early testing. Designing the solution in real-time with the actual end users (aka people that will be using their solution), is where you will hit that sweet spot. Here are some tips for you to start to embrace design thinking “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”Thomas A. Edison I hope this helps. I’ve also included a free little checklist to help you find questions to gather feedback. Just click here REFLECTIONS AFTER ACTION REVIEW. It takes 10 minutes to do a reflection to thinking. Let me know what your thoughts are. Best Always, Sapna